Mike AndesFounder, Augusta Lawn Care and Homeworks · Founder of Homeworks and Augusta Lawn Care

Home Services Are a BAD Business

20 Mar 2025 · 1 min

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Mike Andes (speaker) argues that many small home-service businesses suffer a recurring annual "Q4 collapse" that destroys profitability. He reports that removing one quarter from analyzed P&Ls raised average profitability by almost 80%, and that his broader review covered over 150 other businesses (tree companies, janitorial, lawn care). The core issue he identifies is one quarter with negative profits or revenue drops exceeding 50%, which he says keeps owners poor.

Questions this video answers

Almost 80%.

Over 150 businesses.

One quarter with negative profits or revenue dropping by more than 50%.

Chapters

This is what makes home services a bad business. When I analyze all of those financial statements of hundreds of small businesses and home services and I removed just one quarter of their profit and loss statement, their average profitability went up by almost 80%. 80%. I also looked at over 150 other businesses outside of Augusta lawn care, and that included tree companies, janitorial companies, and several other home service businesses. And between almost all of these businesses, I was able to identify the common issue with every single one. And that is that we have a Q4 collapse where one quarter in the year we have negative profits or our revenue drops by more than 50%. And if you have that problem in your business, it's going to keep you poor. And that.